In the past, Liverpool's U21 call-ups were always something of an afterthought. Something for fans to think, Oh, that's nice about before getting back to the serious business of worrying over which of the senior players would end up injured on big boy international duty. Now, though, with Liverpool so heavily reliant on their youth for success not only in the European and domestic cup competitions but even in the Premier League, suddenly that those youth players are heading off to represent their countries becomes something of a big deal.
So is the case this week, with Stuart Pearce calling Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom, and Jack Robinson up for a U21 European Championships playoff double-header against Serbia that could make or break England's qualification hopes ...